Natural hazards · Colfax

Colfax, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Colfax comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Colfax?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Colfax to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves36%Winter weather5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Colfax faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Winter weather

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 30 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Colfax flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Colfax.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Colfax isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Benzie County.

Disasters that hit Colfax

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Benzie County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Colfax itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ColfaxDeclared for Benzie County only

Benzie County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Colfax

Colfax and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Green Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Colfaxmostly inland floodingLow

Inlandmostly inland floodingLow

Cleonmostly inland floodingLow

Weldonmostly cold wavesLow

Grantmostly cold wavesVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Colfax covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Colfax’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Colfax. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Colfax total about $1.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.